


Their Never-Ending Tale

by TemporalLegend



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Gen, Romance, shusumi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:54:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28254231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TemporalLegend/pseuds/TemporalLegend
Summary: In their continual attempts to one-up each other and share their happiness, they'll find a love deeper than anything before.
Relationships: Amamiya Ren & Yoshizawa Sumire | Yoshizawa Kasumi, Amamiya Ren/Yoshizawa Sumire | Yoshizawa Kasumi, Kurusu Akira & Yoshizawa Sumire | Yoshizawa Kasumi, Kurusu Akira/Yoshizawa Sumire | Yoshizawa Kasumi, Persona 5 Protagonist & Yoshizawa Sumire | Yoshizawa Kasumi
Comments: 3
Kudos: 40





	1. I'm always watching

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: A departure from my usual fics, which tend to be heavier, but I was inspired recently to create a Shusumi fic just depicting happy times and never ending fluff. Since these moments are small and light, I expect there to be relatively frequent updates (fingers crossed!).

She tucks a loose strand of her auburn hair behind her ear, revealing just the slightest bit of skin on the nape of her neck. Absentmindedly, she taps her pencil on her lined paper, not once, but twice _—_ lost in thought, leaving behind a little graphite.

Her eyebrows crumple a bit in confusion, but not even two seconds later, she lets out an audible, "ah!", and puts her pencil to the paper again, furiously writing out the next step of the formula on her answer sheet. In her haste, she inadvertently smudges her hand on the graphite, but she is too focused to notice.

When she finishes the problem, there is a noticeable curvature upwards on her lips _—_ not too wide, that anyone would notice and then feel obligated to say, "why, young lady, why are you so happy at simply solving a math problem?", but wide enough to understand that she is, indeed, secretly happy for reaching the correct answer. It may be a small victory, but it is a smile that makes you understand that she finds joy in things like these nevertheless. And while she has yet to check if her solution is correct or not, she is fully confident in her answer; in other words, it must be right.

Satisfied with her progress, she lifts up her head excitedly, ready to indulge in her prize: a fresh, aromatic cup of coffee specially made to her liking, its scent slightly distracting her all this while. The ambiance of LeBlanc, of course, did not help _—_ but for various reasons, it was always her number one place to come and study.

However, the quick motion of her head is enough to disrupt the delicate balance that is her curly, left-swept bangs; they fly up for a brief moment, before deciding to land right atop her eyes.

Looking up at her now messy hair in mild annoyance, she blows out a breath upwards to displace them.

It didn't work.

She tries again, just in case.

It still didn't work.

And when she finally resigns to her fate and fixes her hair with her hand, god forbid, the first thing she sees is her companion across the booth, staring, smirking, and silent the entire time.

"...Whaat?" Sumire complains.

"Hmm?" he responds playfully, tilting his head and feigning ignorance.

"In case you haven't noticed, you're staring at me, Senpai."

"Am not."

"Am too!"

"Pfft, you're just too self conscious."

"And you're too easy-going, Senpai — look! You haven't made any progress on your work whatsoever!"

Oh...Oops. Caught red handed.

"What can I say?" Ren replies immediately, not giving anything away. "I'm thinking about a lot of things."

Sumire exhales, resting her head on her right hand in exasperation. "Fine - then, what're you thinking about right now?"

"Right now?" Ren asks, mildly caught off guard by the sudden question. He had inadvertently found himself in a corner. "Well…"

' _You're the reason why I'm so unproductive.'_

For just the briefest of moments, he considers telling her the truth. But then, the side of Sumire's hand catches his eye.

"...Actually, on second thought," he smirks, "never mind."

"Ehhh?!" Sumire complains, a clear pout forming on her face. She balls up her fists and hits the table lightly, as if in protest. "What's with that? Aghh, you're so annoying sometimes, you know?"

"Speaking of, you smeared your hand earlier when you did that math problem."

"Huh?"

Her anger and exasperation quickly evaporates from her face, and she turns over her left hand first, for some reason, to check _—_ then her right hand.

"Ahh, you're right!" Sumire exclaims. She quickly inspects her paper as well, only to be met with dismay.

"Oh jeez, it's everywhere on the paper! How did I not even notice?!"

Now self absorbed in her own world, she quickly pulls out an eraser to get rid of the smear.

And Ren, smirking at her as if it was the most natural thing in the world, watches in amusement, with just the tiniest bit of relief. If she had thought about it logically, she would've realized that there was no way he could have noticed that tiny detail, unless…

' _Well, it's the little things that she does after all, isn't it?'_

And so, 'I'm always watching'.


	2. I want you to say it

"Hey, hey, do you like coffee?"

He turns his head left, the color red filling his vision. His companion for the day, on the walk back home after school, had posed a questionable question.

A questionable question to be sure, but an innocuous question, all the same. But then again…

Indeed, she had tilted her head slightly to the left, so that her left-swept bangs were even more swept to the left; crimson eyes staring at him intently as if it was the most important thing in the world; her right hand gripping his left tighter than when they usually held hands on the way back home.

"Coffee?"

"Yeah! Do you like it? Or do you not like it?"

"Err, of course I like it. I live in a coffee shop."

"Hm- I see," Sumire says simply. She begins her stride again, pulling his left to encourage him to keep up.

Ren quickly follows to catch up: "Uhm, so what was tha-"

"Say, Senpai, do you like curry?" Sumire starts again, cutting him off.

"Eh? Uhm...yeah?"

"How about movies?"

"Yes?"

Ren scratches his head internally, trying to figure out what this girl was talking about. But, well, she looked happy with his answers so, what the heck?

"Okay, do you like the bathhouse behind LeBlanc?" Sumire continues, walking by his side all the same.

"Oh yeah, love that place," Ren quickly responds.

"Big Bang Burger?"

"On occasion, sure."

"Do you like flowers?" Sumire presses.

"Yep."

"Dandelions."

"Definitely."

"Violets?"

"Mhm."

"Then, do you like me?"

"Yeah, of cou-"

...Wait a second.

He stops in place, but Sumire continues walking along as if nothing happened. And when their arms are pulled taut, she turns around, with an innocent look on her face.

"Hm? What's wrong, Senpai?" she asks.

"...What is this all about?"

"What do you mean?" Sumire asks again, without a care in the world. "I'm just trying to learn about what my boyfriend likes?"

"...Uhhuh…"

"Yep."

"Boyfriend, huh?"

"Yeah," Sumire replies, looking back, staring straight at him. "Are you not?"

"If I am," Ren says, slightly confused, "then why the last question?"

"Well, because-!"

The grip on Ren's hand gets slightly tighter. She looks away, breaking eye contact for just a second, but then locks eyes once again, determination now unwavering in her eyes.

"After all, I never hear you say it!" Sumire protests.

"Eh?"

"You say you like all these other things so freely, but then when I ask you if you like me, you clam right up!"

By now, there was a pout forming on Sumire's face. Cheeks slightly puffed out, lips turned in a slight frown...

Ah, jeez- there was no getting out of this one. When Sumire makes that face, well…let's just say that there were very few things that could one-up the leader of the Phantom Thieves.

His girlfriend was probably one of them.

Ren quickly looks away, his cheeks starting to tint a little red.

"Oh, well, I mean...it's embarrassing…"

"Even still!"

All of a sudden, Sumire closed the distance between them, and now grabbed both of his hands in her own, her face staring intently at him.

"Even still," she presses again. "...Please, Senpai? Do you love me?"

 _When did it change from 'like' to 'love'?_ Ren complains to himself, still avoiding eye contact.

"...You should already know the answer to that."

Sumire makes a pout again. "Even so, I still want to hear you say it sometimes, you know…"

Ren slowly turns his head back to look into Sumire's pleading eyes.

Sigh. There really is no winning this one, is there?

"Alright, alright, yes, it's true…" Ren concedes. "I really do love you, Sumire."

The instant those words leave his mouth, Sumire's pout transforms into a wide smile, satisfied now that she had gotten what she set out for.

"Aww, thanks, Senpai! My heart skipped a beat," she says, her face now positively radiant.

She squeezes his hand once, then turns around again to head to the train station, renewed vigor in her steps. His hand still linked to hers, he had no choice but to follow.

' _And she didn't even say it back,'_ Ren grumbles internally.

"Oh, and Senpai?" Sumire calls out to him from up ahead, without turning around.

"Ugh...what is it now?" he says, slightly exasperated.

Sumire stops in her tracks, and without warning, turns around and swiftly delivers a kiss on the cheek.

"I love you too, Ren!"

"...!!"

Content with her victory today, she lets go of his hand and walks off, leaving Ren standing still in shock for a few seconds.

…

His girlfriend was _definitely_ one of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Sumire really is Ren's final boss, huh?


	3. You're all I want

Sumire pulls her coat closer to herself as the wind blows by her.

"B...Brr…H-h-hasn't it gotten colder lately?" Sumire chatters, rubbing her arms to the best of her ability.

"I mean, that's why I said…"

A voice calls out to her from ahead, and she looks up to see a sighing Ren Amamiya across the makeshift table that they had constructed somewhat messily. "We should've just eaten inside."

Sumire puts her hands on her hips to give her best look of disapproval. Of course, it didn't look very convincing, considering Sumire's usual demeanor, but Ren knew better than to say that out loud.

"But this is our tradition!" she objects. "We've been eating lunch up on the roof for close to two months; we can't stop now!"

"Two months ago you weren't at risk of getting sick," Ren notes.

"A little cold won't stop me from doing this much," Sumire concludes simply.

"Even if it starts snowing?"

"Rain or shine, Senpai."

"You know, you're awfully adamant about things like this."

"But of course," Sumire replies, the faintest bit of pride present in her voice. "On the contrary, Senpai, for being the leader of the Phantom Thieves, you sure lack conviction if a little breeze is enough to make you falter."

"I think that's the wrong kind of conviction…" Ren grumbles in protest. "All I'm saying is, it would be troublesome if you got sick now, considering our Christmas date is in a few days."

At the mention of that one particular word, Sumire's face lights up. She puts down her fourth sandwich that she was about to inhale.

"Oh yeah! Speaking of which, Senpai…" she says happily, "...is there anything you want for Christmas this year?"

"Hm?"

Ren looks up from his own sandwich, and ponders for a total of three seconds.

"Not really."

He goes back to eating his sandwich.

...

"Ehhh?!"

Sumire gets up from her seat and leans into the table.

"You didn't even think about it, Senpai!" Sumire loudly protests.

"Of course I did," Ren replies matter of factly. "There's just not much I really want."

"Haah…" An audible sigh escapes her throat and she sits back down in her seat. "Why are you like this?"

"What do you mean? It's fine, Sumire — you don't have to get me anything for Christmas."

"No, it's not fine, you dummy! I wanted to get you something nice — you know...a-as your girlfriend..." Sumire trails off timidly.

Ren raises an eyebrow slightly, then lets out a light chuckle.

"Eh? What's so funny?" she asks him.

"Sorry, sorry~. Let me rephrase myself."

"?" A curious look finds its way into Sumire's expression.

"Well," Ren starts, "when I said there's not really anything I want, what I really meant was, I already have everything that I wanted for Christmas this year."

By this point, Sumire was totally lost.

"Wait what, really?" she asks, confused. "What did you want?"

Ren rolls his eyes playfully for a brief moment, but smirks at her all the same, totally enjoying himself.

"Isn't it obvious?" he says devilishly. "After all, the only thing I want for Christmas is…"

He stands up and leans forward over the table, cupping his hand around his mouth and putting it next to her ear. A brief wisp of his breath is seen in the crisp, cold air as he whispers his wish.

"...Hweh?"

Ren pulls back and sits back down contently, counting down the seconds until Sumire implodes.

"Eh? Wai- Wha-" she squeaks. Already, her cheeks were already flushing a deep red that rivaled her hair.

And if there was any regret that Ren had for the scene unfolding before him, it was his lack of foresight to set up a camera to capture her perfect reaction.

"EHHHH?!"

...All of a sudden, Sumire was no longer cold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Uh-oh, Ren — you caused Sumire.exe to stop working! What do you think he whispered to her?
> 
> Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all enjoyed this Christmas themed short. Stay warm, and snuggle your loved ones!
> 
> As a side note, since this is a new type of fic that I'm experimenting with, any feedback or reviews would be highly appreciated! I'm not sure for how long I'll be continuing with this type of fic, but if there's continued interest in it, then I'll try my best to write more. Any suggestions or recommendations on what you want me to write about is welcome too!


End file.
